Treasurer: Gaming Pick Knows Procurement, Transparency

Enrique A. Zuniga, left, executive director of the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust, stands with state treasurer Steven Grossman after being introduced by Grossman as his appointment to the state gaming commission. (Stephan Savoia/AP)

BOSTON — On Monday, state treasurer Steven Grossman named his pick to the new gaming commission: Enrique Zuniga. Zuniga is currently the executive director of the Massachusetts Water Pollution Abatement Trust and has previously served in management positions with Ernst & Young and the Boston Housing Authority. Until last June, he worked for the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

That experience gave Zuniga his key qualifications for the job, Grossman said in a press conference: "One of the things that made Enrique far and away the right person for this job is the fact that he has been so intimately involved in public procurement and best practices … and I think if anybody said what’s the most successful enterprise in state government in the last 10, maybe 25 years, I think the Mass. School Building Authority would rank right at the top."

Grossman also emphasized the need for the members of the commission to be transparent in their dealings. "I will opt always for full disclosure to the public in each and every detail, and Enrique certainly made that clear in all the interviews he did with the panel, which is the reason they brought him forward, and the reason we selected him," he said.

Zuniga had this to say about his qualifications: "I’ve done a lot of risk assessment of many different organizations — real estate, construction, retail operators, but also at the MSBA, my second title included being the director of quality assurance, so what I believe is important is to understand the element of risks of these enterprises."

Zuniga is the third person named to the panel. Gov. Deval Patrick previously named Steven Crosby, a UMass Boston professor and former state official, to chair the commission. Attorney General Martha Coakley chose Gayle Cameron, a former New Jersey state investigator. The three state officials will jointly choose the final two members.